Worship Renewal Through Discipleship: How Discipleship and Mission Affects Our Worship

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WORSHIP RENEWAL THROUGH DISCIPLESHIP:

HOW DISCIPLESHIP AND MISSION AFFECTS OUR WORSHIP

By

Kevin Lloyd Haglund

A MASTER’S THESIS PRESENTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF

MASTER OF ARTS IN MUSIC AND WORSHIP

Liberty University April, 2017

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AN INVESTIGATION OF THE CAUSE AND EFFECT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DISCIPLESHIP AND WORSHIP AND THE IMPACT ON

CONGREGATIONAL SINGING

by Kevin Lloyd Haglund

A Thesis Presented in Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in Music and Worship

Liberty University, Lynchburg, VA March 15, 2017

APPROVED BY: Keith A. Currie, Ed D, Assistant Professor of Graduate Music, Committee Chair Rodney D. Whaley, D.Min., Committee Member Vernon M. Whaley, Ph.D. Dean of the School of Music

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Acknowledgements

On May 15, 2007, I was on a staff retreat when I received the news that Dr. Jerry Falwell had passed away. Over the next few days and weeks, I began to reflect on the tremendous impact Dr. Falwell had made with his one lifetime and it caused me to reflect and pray about the impact God wanted me to have with mine. It was these times of reflection and prayer that led me to pursue my graduate studies. I will forever be grateful for the impact that Dr. Jerry Falwell and two of the institutions he started—Liberty University and Thomas Road Baptist Church—for how they have shaped and continue to shape my life and ministry.

I am also very grateful for my family—my wife Suzanne and children, Ellie, Sarah and Ethan—who have been so supportive of my educational pursuits. They celebrated with me at the close of each term and with the completion of each milestone. Thank you for truly being a family on mission as we pursue living like Jesus and leading others to do the same.

Most of all, I thank my Savior Jesus Christ for becoming sin for me so that I could be made right with God. The mission he has given to me has not been easy, but it has been filled with purpose, adventure, and, most importantly, his presence. I hope and pray that this thesis will shed additional light on how the Church, his bride, can more

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Abstract

Numerous articles, blogs, and books have been written in recent years about the lessening of congregational participation in singing and many have called for a renewal of worship and changes in worship practice within the church. Yet, most of the solutions offered are aimed at bettering what happens inside the worship event—singing songs with more theologically rich lyrics, incorporating more scripture and prayer, striving for more creative ways to engage the congregation, more resources and training for worship leaders, and many other valuable ideas. As excellent as those solutions may be, they are incomplete unless we also focus on that which happens outside of the worship event. This study examines the impact that discipleship has on participation and perceptions during congregational singing. Results indicate that those who have been discipled to actively participate in God’s mission of redemption in the world are less dependent on that which occurs inside the worship event to engage them in singing because of what they have experienced outside of the worship event—namely, God using them in his mission of redemption. Conversely, those who have not been discipled to actively participate in God’s mission of redemption in the world tend to be more dependent on that which occurs inside the worship event to engage them in singing. Clearly, discipling people to engage in God’s mission holds great possibilities for a renewal in worship and

congregational singing.

Keywords: Discipleship, worship, mission, missional living, congregational singing, worship renewal

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List of Tables

Table Page

Table 1 - Question 10 ... 57 Table 2 - Question 20 ... 66

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List of Figures

Figure Page Figure 1 - Question 1 ... 52 Figure 2 - Question 2 ... 52 Figure 3 - Question 3 ... 53 Figure 4 - Question 4 ... 53 Figure 5 - Question 5 ... 54 Figure 6 - Question 6 ... 54 Figure 7 - Question 7 ... 55 Figure 8 - Question 8 ... 55 Figure 9 - Question 9 ... 56 Figure 10 - Question 11 ... 61 Figure 11 - Question 12 ... 61 Figure 12 - Question 13 ... 62 Figure 13 - Question 14 ... 62 Figure 14 - Question 15 ... 63 Figure 15 - Question 16 ... 63 Figure 16 - Question 17 ... 64 Figure 17 - Question 18 ... 64 Figure 18 - Question 19 ... 65

Figure 19 – Correlation #1: Questions 11 and 3 ... 71

Figure 20 – Correlation #2: Questions 15 and 3 ... 72

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Figure 22 - Correlation #4: Questions 17 and 7 ... 74

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CHAPTER ONE: Introduction

Background

Congregational singing has been a part of the worship of God’s people at least since the crossing of the Red Sea. Exodus 15 records the first song mentioned in

Scripture. Moses and his sister Miriam sang a song of praise to God for their miraculous exodus out of slavery in Egypt. Music and singing in worship is evident throughout Scripture culminating with worshipers from every nation gathered around the throne giving their worship to the Lamb. Certainly, music has been a vital part of the Christian church for centuries. “The New Testament relationship of music to worship was

established by our Lord when he and his disciples closed the celebrating of the first Lord’s Supper with the singing of a hymn. The early church sang hymns to Christ in the catacombs. Ever since that day music has held an important place in the worship of the church” (Owens 1999, p. 105).

Throughout the ages, congregational singing has endured ebbs and flows. During the Middle Ages, congregational singing was almost entirely snuffed out and music was relegated primarily to clergy members. “During the Reformation, Luther sought to restore congregational singing, which he saw as a means of indoctrination as well as a source of joy” (Segler 1996, p. 89). Innovations in music and changes in the culture at large tend to affect worship practices in one way or another. Reformations and awakenings were often accompanied by renewals in congregational singing as hymn and song writers set lyrics to the music of the day. When congregational participation waned, worship renewal sometimes came through concerted human efforts such as music instruction and singing

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schools. “In North America, all music genres used in worship trace their heritage to the early eighteenth-century singing school” (Towns and Whaley 2012, p. 152). At other times, cycles of renewal came through revivals and new moves of God’s Spirit among his people. “What one generation finds meaningful and significant can become stale and sterile to a later generation. Eventually, new liturgical and musical forms emerge to challenge and replace older ones” (Redman 2002, p. 176).

Statement of the Problem

In recent years, many books, blogs, and articles have been written regarding the decline of participation in congregational singing in many churches in America. In a recent article entitled “The Sound of (Congregational) Silence” appearing in Choral Journal, composer Bob Burroughs warns of this disturbing trend:

“Plenty of sounds fill every sanctuary or worship facility: choir, organ, piano, handbells, instruments, praise band, even conversations. But congregations as a whole are just not singing. Many simply stand, look around with their arms folded, shift their feet, and do not sing the hymns or praise choruses. This sad phenomenon has happened gradually, and congregational singing has fallen off to an astounding silence. Too many do not sing, do not care to sing, and do not feel the need to lift their voices in praise” (Burroughs 2014).

Some blame the lack of music education in public schools (Music Education: Developing Musical Skills is Key to Congregational Singing 2004) while others blame the music itself that is being utilized in our churches and those who plan and lead it (Lamm 2014). All these are likely contributors to the decline in participation of our congregations to one degree or another. While there might be different opinions about the cause of the decline, few would argue that a renewal of congregational singing is needed. We must find a way to re-engage the congregation in singing.

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Consumerism is a major contributing factor to the decline in congregational participation in singing. The Church Growth Movement, largely credited to have been begun by Donald McGavran, came to the forefront during the 1950s and 1960s. “As a missiologist, when [McGavran] suggested the need to transition our strategy from ‘people’ to ‘peoples’ in his work Bridges of God in 1954, it impacted his views (and the Church Growth Movement) in big ways. His study of groups (or peoples) on how they respond, undergirded the movement’s emphasis on statistics, sociology, analysis, and more” (Stetzer, What's the Deal with the Church Growth Movement? 2012). In fact, in the preface of Elmer Town’s 10 of Today’s Most Innovative Churches published in 1990, he writes, “The future-oriented Church will be consumer oriented, which means it must understand and follow marketing principles” (E. L. Towns 1990, p. 16). Many churches across North America have fully embraced a consumer oriented or “attractional” model of ministry that markets the church and its programs (music, teaching, age-graded ministries, facility, special events, etc.) to the unchurched in hopes of attracting them to hear the Gospel. It can be quite effective, but this approach also has a down side. “How we appeal to someone—churched or unchurched—will ultimately affect how we retain them” (Bird, Stetzer and Towns 2007, p. 228). In other words, what we win them with, we win them to. There is also the danger of sending conflicting messages by appealing to felt needs when the Gospel is about denying ourselves. “We are settling for Christianity that revolves around catering to ourselves when the central message of Christianity is actually about abandoning ourselves” (Platt 2010, p. 7).

The marketing and consumer-oriented strategies of today’s typical North American church has affected worship—specifically, congregational participation in

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singing. “While consumerism impacts many areas of church life, it has significantly affected how most churches perceive and understand worship. All too often, the intended time of communion with God becomes something relegated to a methodology for church growth” (Gray 2014, p. 37). As the pressure increases on the worship leader and his team to produce a quality worship experience to attract more people, a greater emphasis on production and performance ensues and the congregation is often left to observe. “The benchmark of success in church services has become more about attendance than the movement of the Holy Spirit. The ‘entertainment’ model of church was largely adopted in the 1980s and ‘90s, and while it alleviated some of our boredom for a couple of hours a week, it filled our churches with self-focused consumers rather than self-sacrificing servants attuned to the Holy Spirit” (Chan 2009, pp. 15-16).

Statement of the Purpose

This study is about worship renewal through discipleship. Most of the worship renewal resources focus exclusively on the worship event or the leaders who plan and lead them. They focus primarily on the sixty to ninety minutes of our week inside the worship event and mostly neglect the portion of our lives that occurs outside of the worship event. At the risk of over-simplification, it is as if we believe that if we just had better worship services, we would have better Christians—Christians who would look and act more like Jesus the rest of the week if we just sang more theologically rich songs, recited the Apostle’s Creed together, or had better worship planning. That is a lot of pressure to put on the pastor, the worship leader, and all those involved in the planning and execution of one sixty- to ninety-minute worship service per week! We cannot expect people to engage in meaningful worship inside the worship event if they have not been

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trained and equipped, that is discipled, to be engaged with God and what he is doing throughout the rest of their week outside of the worship event. If we only focus on what happens inside the worship event, we are missing a crucial part of the equation.

“The book of Psalms has been for centuries the primary resource for the liturgical and devotional life of the people of God” (McCann, Jr. 1993, p. 13). Throughout the Psalms are exhortations to praise God for his mighty acts or deeds. Psalm 145 is one such psalm.

“One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness” (Psalm 145:4-6 ESV). All through Psalm 145, there are references to God’s works, his mighty deeds, and how we should praise Him and tell others about what he has done. In fact, the very first song mentioned in the Bible in Exodus 15 is a song of praise to God that recounts his mighty acts on behalf of his people.

Where do God’s people experience his mighty works today? In church? Perhaps. However, the question must be asked—is it really happening? Are people experiencing mighty acts of God on Sunday morning in our churches or is it just goose bumps from a well-executed performance or tears from emotional manipulation? What would happen if people were experiencing the wondrous works of God throughout the rest of the week? What if instead of focusing the vast majority of our resources solely on Sunday

programming while the church is gathered, we trained and equipped them to scatter and join God in his mission of redemption in the world? In their book And: The Gathered and Scattered Church, Hugh Halter and Matt Smay speak to this shift:

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“At some point, every leader questions their methods, laments how slow it is to produce a disciple, and wrings their hands over indifference and lethargy. Whether you are a mega-church pastor or a bi-vocational leader (or an unpaid saint), we all worry about resources. We get depressed that so much is spent on buildings and salaries (even if it is our own). We struggle to see how our biblical teaching makes any sense to a world that isn’t really looking to come to church. We silently question our own calling, and although we can sound confident about our vision for our church, we still wonder from time to time if what we’re doing is really what Jesus would do” (Halter and Smay 2010, p. 26).

In most North American churches, the evangelism and discipleship process looks like this: the primary role of church members is to invite an unsaved guest to a church service or event so he can hear a paid professional member of the clergy present the Gospel. Hopefully, the guest will “pray the prayer” and make a profession of faith, soon afterward get baptized, become a church member, and join a small group or Sunday School class. If we want to keep him at the church, we find him a place to serve in a ministry—greet people at the door, serve coffee, or sing in the choir. Short-term mission trips are like graduate level Christianity. Evangelism and discipling others are for the “paid professionals” like pastors and missionaries. In some churches, discipleship is a program. There is a neat progression of classes or a slate of electives and Bible studies one can take. But the Great Commission to make disciples was not given to the church. It was given to individual followers of Jesus. “We need to understand the Church as the effect of discipleship and not the cause. If you set out to make disciples, you will

inevitably build the Church. If you set out to build the Church, there is no guarantee you will make disciples. It is far more likely that you will create consumers who depend on the spiritual services that professionals like yourself provide for them” (Breen 2011, p. 11). Many of our churches have calendars that are filled with activities and events—and many of these are good things. Yet, activity does not necessarily equate to spiritual

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growth. In their book Transformational Church, Ed Stetzer and Thom Rainer talk about our propensity for activity rather than mission:

“As leaders, we sometimes fool ourselves into thinking that just managing the status quo is good enough. Some leaders take the merry-go-round approach to church. They think if they can just keep everyone moving, the flashing lights shining bright, and the music happy, they won’t get

complaints… Rather than missionary disciples for Christ going into the world, we have a group of people content to go in circles. God calls us to make a transformational impact on the world, not provide a carnival of frenetic activity for ourselves. But to make this impact, we must engage in his mission for his sake and on his terms” (Stetzer and Rainer,

Transformational Church: Creating a New Scorecard for Congregations 2010, p. 3).

When we become a follower of Jesus, we get to join God in his mission of redemption in the world. 2 Corinthians 5:20 says, “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us… (ESV)” We have been commissioned to make God’s salvation appeal to others. It is my belief that perhaps the most powerful yet overlooked path to worship renewal is through equipping and training people to make disciples. When we see God using us to draw people to Himself, we experience his mighty acts firsthand. Instead of relying on a sixty- to ninety-minute worship event to trigger something inside of us to engage in worship, we will come ready to burst into songs of praise because of what we have experienced God doing in and through our lives all week long. A church full of people that make that kind of discipleship a priority in their lives will undoubtedly experience a renewal of worship and renewed participation in congregational singing.

Significance of the Study

Most of the efforts in bringing about worship renewal have focused almost

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years calling for worship reforms. Some, such as the late Robert E. Webber advocated for the convergence of liturgical and contemporary forms and experiences of worship

(Webber 1994, p. 132). Others, like Dan Kimball, propose a more holistic and multi-sensory approach to worship that engages the whole person especially for reaching emerging generations (Kimball 2004, p. 5). Worship leader and author Bob Kauflin focuses his efforts in worship renewal on equipping and training other worship leaders through his book Worship Matters and a website by the same name because he

recognizes the important role that worship leaders have in teaching and training others in worship (Kauflin 2008, p. 54). Still others argue that the biggest contributor to ineffective worship within the church is the lack of serious planning (Segler 1996, p. 217). There is no shortage of materials and resources on worship and worship renewal.

There are also numerous books, resources, and research projects on discipleship. Lifeway Research recently released a massive, multi-year research project studying the topic of discipleship—what it is and how it happens. The findings of the study have been published in the book Transformational Discipleship and is an excellent resource for churches desiring to see discipleship take place. While worship and congregational singing are not the primary foci of the book, it does touch on the subject:

“A church leader attends a worship gathering at a conference and

perceives the people are more passionate than the people in his church. So he takes mental notes of the hungry expressiveness and the postures of reverence. he comes back to his church with a conclusion that worship "looks this way" so he teaches people to act a certain way in a worship gathering. Instead of reminding people of the greatness of God and his goodness expressed to them in Jesus, he paints a picture of what worship should "look like." Instead of trusting that as God refreshes hearts with what Christ has done authentic worship will flow, he gives specifics on what people should do in the worship gathering. Instead of teaching for heart transformation, he teaches for behavior. It is easier to measure, and the immediate result is tempting” (Geiger, Kelley and Nation 2012, p. 89)

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In their excellent book The Great Commission to Worship, David Wheeler and Vernon Whaley connect worship with the Great Commission to make disciples.

“In most cases, Christians will admit their need to worship, but they will do so to the exclusion of becoming radical and passionate followers of Christ… so-called believers appear to be content with this disconnect in reference to their faith, thus allowing for outward expressions of worship with little regard to what it means to be a multiplying disciple of Christ. After generations of allowing this anemic expression of worship to exist with little or no challenge from Christian leaders, the result has been the normalizing of an impotent faith that ignores the Great Commission in favor of reducing worship to an emotional act of personal expression” (Whaley and Wheeler 2011, pp. 7-8).

The premise of the book is that a Great Commission worshipper will be totally and equally devoted to evangelism and worship.

The truly significant part of my research project is that it attempts to identify a cause and effect relationship between discipleship and worship—specifically,

congregational singing. My research examines the worship experiences of 167 unique individuals and attempts to draw comparisons of these experiences between those who indicated that they have been discipled and those who indicated that they have not.

Research Questions and Sub-Questions

This leads to the primary research question: Is there a cause and effect

relationship between discipleship and worship—specifically, congregational singing? Through my research, my objective is to show that discipleship can and must play a vital role in worship renewal. As we disciple people to join God in his mission in the world, they will experience God using them to draw people to Himself and experience firsthand the mighty acts of God which have always fueled the worship of God’s people.

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1. Do you find it difficult to engage in corporate worship due to

distractions/busyness of life? Or do you regularly experience so much of God’s activity in your life that you look forward to worshiping and praising Him? 2. Do things like worship style, quality of the vocalists/musicians, music volume,

etc., distract you from worship? Or, because you regularly experience God using you to accomplish his mission during the week, there is rarely anything that can keep you from engaging in worshiping Him?

3. Which impacts your engagement in worship most—what happens inside the worship event (songs, prayers, scripture readings, etc.) or what happens outside or leading up to the worship event (God’s activity in my life, personal times of worship, etc.)?

4. Have you ever had someone disciple/mentor you (one-on-one or one-on-few)? 5. Have you been discipled/mentored in missional living (living like a missionary

where you live, work, and play, living out the gospel and looking for opportunities to share it as God provides)?

6. Do you have a strong sense of calling as to your role in advancing God’s

Kingdom? Is God currently using you in the life of at least one unsaved person to help them take steps toward faith in Jesus?

These and other questions were part of my research questionnaire. The next chapter will look more closely at the literature reviewed while determining the scope of this project.

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Definition of Terms

Worship/Worship Renewal – While worship encompasses much more than music, for the purposes of this research project, the terms worship and worship renewal generally relate to the musical or congregational singing portion of a corporate worship service. Discipleship – This is a very broad term used among churches and denominations to refer to spiritual growth and practicing spiritual disciplines such as Bible reading, prayer, fasting, etc. For the purposes of this research project, discipleship refers to the act of becoming like Jesus in his character and in his competency—doing the kinds of things he did. There is no shortage of discipleship curriculum available today, but most of these tend to focus on character and practicing spiritual disciplines. True discipleship must also equip and train the disciple to make disciples, otherwise, the multiplication of disciples does not occur.

Missional/Missional Living – This term is used to describe a follower of Jesus who is engaged in God’s mission of redemption in this world. He lives as a missionary where he lives, works, and plays living out and sharing the Gospel as the Holy Spirit gives him opportunity.

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CHAPTER TWO: Literature Review

Since my research topic seeks to investigate the relationship between two distinct areas—discipleship and worship—my literature review falls into two broad categories: discipleship and worship renewal. Each of these broad categories breaks down into smaller subsets. In the arena of discipleship literature, first, I will examine the data from the Transformational Discipleship research study conducted by Lifeway Research. Second, although there are no shortages of excellent books on discipleship, I will review three recent, prominent books written on the topic of discipleship: Real-Life Discipleship by Jim Putman, Building a Discipling Culture by Mike Breen, and Saturate by Jeff Vanderstelt. For the worship literature, I will examine some data regarding attitudes toward and national trends in worship from Faith Communities Today, the Pew Research Center and LifeWay Research. As in discipleship, there are no shortage of excellent books written on the topic of worship and worship renewal. I will review four prominent books offering different approaches for worship renewal: Worship Old & New by the late Robert Webber, Emerging Worship by Dan Kimball, Worship Matters by Bob Kauflin, and The Great Commission to Worship by David Wheeler and Vernon Whaley.

Section One: Discipleship Literature

Transformational Discipleship Study by Lifeway Research

When it comes to research about religion, the Church, and social issues that affect Christians, Lifeway Research is one of the best sources for scholarly research and

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effectiveness” (Lifeway Research n.d.)1_{. In 2008, Lifeway Research conducted a massive} research project to identify the key attributes of healthy churches (LifeWay

Communications Staff n.d.).2 The findings of this study were published in the book Transformational Church written by Ed Stetzer and Thom Rainer. The research published in Transformational Church served as a foundation for LifeWay’s biggest study to date on discipleship which launched in 2011 and included interviews with discipleship experts from eight countries, surveys with 1,000 pastors, and more than 4,000 Protestants across North America (LifeWay Communications Staff n.d.).3 The study’s findings were published in the book Transformational Discipleship by Eric Geiger, Michael Kelley, and Philip Nation. Although this research does not explore the relationship between discipleship and worship, it appears to be the largest study of its kind on discipleship, and is therefore an extremely important part of the body of literature on discipleship.

Since the research in Transformational Discipleship is closely tied to the research in Transformational Church, it is no surprise that the two place a high degree of

importance on involvement in a local church as a significant part of discipleship. “God shapes congregations through the shaping of individual lives. Further, this shaping of individuals doesn’t just happen; it’s through intentional effort on the part of both leaders and church members” (Geiger, Kelley and Nation 2012, iBooks p. 9). The study found

1_{From LifeWay Research website http://www.lifewayresearch.com/about/}

2_{Article rom LifeWay website} http://www.lifeway.com/Article/news-massive-lifeway-research-project-identifies-eight-measures-of-personal-discipleship

3_{Article from LifeWay website} http://www.lifeway.com/Article/transformational-research-attributes-of-growing-disciples

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that church involvement is very closely tied to discipleship, and as such, attending and participating in worship services is an important part of the discipleship process. The book goes on to state that “disciples are being made in the same way they’ve always been made—by the power of the Holy Spirit working through the church. It is when the people of God engage in the mission of God through the Spirit of God” (Geiger, Kelley and Nation 2012, iBooks p. 10). In a separate article regarding the Transformational Discipleship study on LifeWay Research’s website, Scott McConnell, director of LifeWay Research states, “Making disciples is the work of the church” (McConnell 2012).

I believe it is crucial to make an evaluative statement at the onset. It may seem like a minor issue, but churches do not make disciples. People make disciples. The Great Commission was not given to the Church. It was given to every person who is a follower of Jesus. For too long, the Church has addressed discipleship through programs—Awana, Sunday School, small groups, etc. The Church has adopted a one-size-fits-all, Henry Ford-esque, mass production approach to discipleship in hopes of making disciples like new Ford trucks rolling off the assembly line of the Ford F-150 plant in Dearborn, Michigan. The programmatic approach to discipleship has largely failed and there seems to be a lack of consensus as to what true discipleship entails. According to their own research, the majority of pastors disagreed with the statement “I am satisfied with the state of discipleship and spiritual formation in our local church” including 18 percent who strongly disagree and 34 percent who somewhat disagree with the statement. Yet, nine out of 10 of these same pastors surveyed believe their congregation is making significant progress in spiritual development (McConnell 2012). What? How can we say

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that the people in our congregations are making significant progress in their spiritual development yet be dissatisfied with the state of discipleship and spiritual formation in our churches? It is because people make disciples, not programs. The Church must preach the gospel and be the gathering place where followers of Jesus worship God together and develop discipling relationships, but the actual work of discipleship is the responsibility of every follower of Jesus and not a program of the Church.

As the title of the study reveals, discipleship is about transformation. “The word from the Scriptures often associated with transformation is ‘metamorphosis.’ It

communicates lasting and irreversible change at the core, not merely external alterations or tweaking the appearance” (Geiger, Kelley and Nation 2012, iBooks p. 90). This transformation happens purposefully. “The LifeWay Research team discovered that certain factors are at work in the lives of believers who are progressing in spiritual maturity. We refer to them as the attributes of discipleship: Bible engagement, obeying God and denying self, serving God and others, sharing Christ, exercising faith, seeking God, building relationships, and unashamed authenticity (Geiger, Kelley and Nation 2012, iBooks p. 96). The research further suggests that there are three factors that align to create an ideal environment in which this transformation occurs. “The Transformational Sweet Spot is the intersection of truth given by healthy leaders when someone is in a vulnerable posture” (Geiger, Kelley and Nation 2012, iBooks p. 100).

The research questions in the Transformational Discipleship study have similar themes to my own research questions regarding discipleship. When asked about sharing the Gospel, “Almost three-quarters agreed with the statement, ‘I feel comfortable that I can share my belief in Christ with someone else effectively” (31 percent strongly and 43

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agree somewhat)” (Geiger, Kelley and Nation 2012, iBooks p. 284). Yet, in another question, “80 percent of those who attend church one or more times a month, believe they have a personal responsibility to share their faith, but 61 percent have not told another person about how to become a Christian in the previous six months” (LifeWay Research 2014). Clearly, belief has not made its way into action or obedience.

When it comes to discipleship and the relationship with other believers, “the survey also shows churchgoers often leave important elements of faith unspoken. Nearly a third (29 percent) agree ‘Spiritual matters do not tend to come up as a normal part of my daily conversations with other Christians,’ while 50 percent disagree this is the case” (LifeWay Research 2013). “Almost three out of every four churchgoers say they have significant relationships with people at church, but less than half are intentionally helping other believers grow in their faith… Results of the ‘Building Relationships’ questions reveal a seeming disconnect between churchgoers actually pressing into new

relationships or participating in discipling other Christians” (LifeWay Research 2013). It is clear from this study, at least in the North American Church, that we are not clear on our understanding of discipleship—what it is, when it is occurring, and how to accomplish it. Pastors say they are not pleased with their church’s discipleship efforts, yet confidently declare that spiritual transformation is happening. The majority of believers are not investing in other believers or sharing their faith with others. In fact, in another LifeWay Research study released in the book The Shape of Faith to Come: Spiritual Formation and the Future of Discipleship by Brad Waggoner, “only 17 percent of Protestant churchgoers in America demonstrate a ‘decent’ level of spiritual maturity” (Waggoner 2008, iBooks p. 43). While there is much in this research about the status of

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discipleship, none of the research seeks to explore the potential of a relationship between discipleship and worship or worship renewal in the church.

Real-life Discipleship by Jim Putman

Several years ago, while serving at a church in Corbin, Kentucky, I attended a discipleship workshop led by a group of leaders from Real Life Ministries in Post Falls, Idaho. They presented a very informative and thorough discipleship process and I have used several of their resources in various churches I have served. As I began to sort through literature on discipleship, I knew Jim Putman’s book would need to be a part of this project.

Real Life Ministries started in 1999 with two couples and, by 2010, had grown to over 8,500 people (Putman 2010, p. 17). The church’s focus on equipping and growing up leaders from within has resulted in many of its ninety-plus pastors and staff members being hired from within. All but seven worked their way up from volunteer leaders to lower level staff positions before assuming higher levels of leadership (Putman 2010, p. 18). This is not the norm among churches. In fact, Putman says, “So why don’t most American churches tap into the hidden talent buried on their benches? I believe it is because they do not focus on making and training disciples. They spend so much time putting on a show that they do not have the time to know or invest in their people” (Putman 2010, p. 19). In other words, for most churches, programming trumps

discipleship. From the onset, Putman states clearly that “it is the job of every believer to make disciples. The church is supposed to equip its people (every person) to be an army released on its community” (Putman 2010, p. 20).

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As we saw in the Transformational Discipleship study discussed earlier, pastors were unhappy with their discipleship efforts, yet confident that spiritual transformation was taking place. This seems to indicate that in many churches discipleship is happening by accident. Putman points to Jesus as our model for discipleship: 1) Jesus was an intentional leader in every sense; 2) he did his disciple-making in a relational

environment; 3) he followed a process that can be learned and repeated. In other words, an intentional leader + a relational environment + reproducible process = infinite number of disciples. (Putman 2010, pp. 35-36).

Metaphors are wonderful tools to bring clarity to words and concepts. In Real-Life Discipleship, Putman uses the metaphor of human growth and development to represent various stages of spiritual growth and development. At stage one, a person is spiritually dead and characterized by the word unbelief. In stage two, following salvation, a person is a spiritual infant characterized by the word ignorance. At stage three, a person is a spiritual child and is often self-centered. Stage four is spiritual young adulthood where people are characterized by becoming “God-focused” and “other-centered.” Stage five is the final stage known as spiritual parenting. We arrive at this stage once we begin to reproduce ourselves spiritually in others (Putman 2010, pp. 41-42).

Relationships are a critical part of discipleship. Jesus modeled this in his relationship with his disciples. “Yet many pastors believe they are making disciples by preaching sermons that teach their congregations what the Bible says. They see

discipleship as simply a transfer of knowledge from teacher to student, and the result will be a changed life” (Putman 2010, p. 47). Receiving Bible knowledge through listening to

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a sermon or small group Bible study is not enough. “In a good growth environment there is shepherding, transparency, accountability, and guided practice” (Putman 2010, p. 52).

It is staggering to think that each believer can trace his spiritual lineage back to one of Jesus’ disciples. This speaks to the power of multiplication and reproduction within the discipleship process. Real Life Ministries developed a reproducible process for making disciples called the Share, Connect, Minister, Disciple process (SCMD). Jesus shared with his disciples the truth that he was the Messiah. He offered them the

opportunity to connect with Him. As they grew spiritually, Jesus gave them opportunities to minister to people. Before leaving this earth, he sent them out to disciple others

(Putman 2010, p. 62). Each of these steps in the reproducible process corresponds to one of the spiritual life stages discussed earlier: Share/Infant, Connect/Child, Minister/Young Adult, Disciple/Parent (Putman 2010, pp. 77-148).

Putman’s discipleship methods in Real-Life Discipleship and the results they have yielded are tough to argue. It is a clear and concise method that has resulted in many people not only being converted but discipled. However, Putman’s approach to discipleship still feels a bit too programmatic to me. It seems to rely heavily on the program of small groups and the discipling relationships that are assumed to develop within. The book does not give much information on how that relationship can or should take place. It seems to be understood that discipling relationships will organically

germinate within the environment of the small group program. The subtitle of the book, “Building Churches that Make Disciples,” communicates that the responsibility for making disciples lies with the Church rather than individuals. Yes, in the book Putman states that discipleship is the responsibility of every believer, but there is somewhat of a

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mixed message between the subtitle and the contents of the book. Perhaps the book emphasizes the more organized and structured components of discipleship rather than the more organic, spontaneous moments where discipleship often occurs. The truth is

discipleship requires both the organized and organic moments in order for it to occur. In any case, Putman’s method for discipleship may be just what the doctor ordered

especially for churches that may be more comfortable with a more programmatic approach to discipleship.

Building a Discipling Culture by Mike Breen

In the fall of 2011, I was in search of a new ministry position. Although at the time I had been a full-time worship pastor since December of 1995, for the past four or five years, God had been impressing on my heart the importance of discipleship and mission. Much of it had to do with my discontent with church services and programs that were not resulting in the making of disciples. I typed the words “missional community” into a Google search field. The very first entry that appeared was 3 Dimension Ministries (3DM) founded by Mike Breen. I clicked the link, read nearly every page of their website and ordered his book Building a Discipling Culture. Ever since that fateful Google search, this book has impacted my understanding and practice of discipleship. I did end up finding a new ministry position as a Worship and Discipleship Pastor at a small congregation in Michigan. Our church ended up going through a two-year Learning Community on discipleship and mission with 3DM which expounds upon the material presented in this book and three others written by Mike Breen and the 3DM team. It is only natural that a book that has impacted me so deeply be included in this literature review.

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Like most discipleship books, Breen starts with the problem: the lack of

discipleship occurring in our churches today. He also points out that the making disciples is the plan Jesus chose for the spread of the Gospel. In fact, both Building a Discipling Culture and Real-Life Discipleship contain a subheading of “There Is No Plan B” in their first chapters. Perhaps my favorite quote on discipleship comes from chapter one of Building A Discipling Culture: “If you make disciples, you always get the Church. But if you make a church, you rarely get disciples.” On the same page, Breen emphasizes that discipleship is the effect of discipleship and not the cause (Breen 2011, p. 11).

Once again, Breen portrays Jesus as the ultimate model for discipleship. He contends that Jesus was constantly calibrating invitation and challenge with those he was discipling. “Invitation is about being invited into a relationship where you have access to a person’s life and all the vibrancy, safety, love and encouragement that reside there… But by accepting that invitation, you also accept the challenge that comes with it: The challenge to live into your identity as a son or daughter of the King” (Breen 2011, p. 18). Discipleship flourishes in environments that are both highly invitational and highly challenging.

As is the case with most discipleship methods, multiplication is the goal. As the book title indicates, it is a culture of discipleship that we are pursuing. One of the primary characteristics of 3DM is the emphasis they place on a discipling language. The reason? Language creates culture. Also important to building a culture of discipleship is the concept of apprenticeship. “Jesus taught his disciples, asked them to imitate his life and then said, ‘You will do greater things than me.’ Information » Imitation » Innovation” (Breen 2011, p. 41).

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Earlier in my literature review, I mentioned the value of metaphor in bringing clarity to words. In a similar vein, Breen fills his book with visuals he calls Lifeshapes to demonstrate various truths distilled from the life and teachings of Jesus. These shapes act as an icon or visual that help us to remember the teachings of Jesus and relevant scripture passages:

• The Learning Circle represents spiritual breakthrough. As we go through life, we inevitably experience an opportunity to learn. We can choose to enter the

Learning Circle or stay on our merry way. In the first half of the Learning Circle, we ask “What is God saying to me?” As we come around the other half, we ask “What am I going to do about it?” (Breen 2011, pp. 51-66).

• The Triangle is what gives 3 Dimension Ministries (3DM) its name. Breen identifies three areas from the life of Jesus that we should emulate. “Jesus lived out his life in three relationships: Up—with his Father; In—with his chosen followers; Out—with the hurting world around him. This three-dimensional pattern for living a balanced life is evident throughout Scripture (Breen 2011, pp. 67-83).

• The Semi-Circle - We all live busy, stressed out lives which is not the way God intended for us to live. God built a natural rhythm into all of creation. The Semi-Circle is a picture of a pendulum swinging in a natural rhythm. This rhythm alternates between rest and work; between abiding and being fruitful (Breen 2011, pp. 85-97).

• The Square represents different aspects of leadership development in four stages. Stage one requires a highly directive leader and an apprentice who is willing to

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watch and learn. In stage two, the apprentice helps the leader as part of the learning process. At stage three, the apprentice carries more responsibility with the leader’s assistance. By stage four, the apprentice is fully equipped to operate on his own. Each stage requires different skills of both leader and apprentice, and we see Jesus modeling all four stages with his disciples (Breen 2011, pp. 99-112). • The Pentagon is a visual representation of the fourfold giftings mentioned in

Ephesians 4: Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor, and Teacher. Each of us has a base gift in one of these five areas for equipping the saints for the work of the ministry. A simple inventory questionnaire can help each person determine his base gifting (Breen 2011, pp. 113-129).

• The Hexagon is a model for prayer patterned after six components of the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13: 1) the Father’s character (verse 9), the Father’s Kingdom (verse 10), the Father’s provision (verse 11), the Father’s forgiveness (verse 12), the Father’s guidance (verse 13a), and the Father’s protection (verse 13b) (Breen 2011, pp. 131-139).

• The Heptagon is patterned after the seven signs of life characteristic of all living organisms as applied to one’s spiritual life: 1) Movement, a disciple is on the move; 2) Respiration, the breath of God’s Spirit in our lives; 3) Sensitivity, a disciple is sensitive to the needs of others; 4) Growth, growing in our relationship with God; 5) Reproduction, a disciple reproduces himself in others; 6) Excretion, confession of sin through repentance; 7) Nutrition, the spiritual nourishment of God’s Word (Breen 2011, pp. 141-151).

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• The Octagon represents eight potential dimensions of relationships that we can leverage for the Gospel: 1) Presence, understanding that wherever you go, Jesus is with you; 2) Passing relationships, people we may have a chance encounter with; 3) Permanent relationships, friends or family members; 4) Proclamation,

individuals with whom we have the opportunity to proclaim the Gospel; 5) Preparation, sometimes we plant the seeds of the Gospel, other times we water, and sometimes we get to harvest; 6) Power, the power of God shown through answered prayer is a powerful tool in sharing the Gospel; 7) Perception, sensitivity to the Spirit’s leading; 8) Person of Peace, the previous seven dimensions help us find People of Peace whom the Holy Spirit is preparing to respond to the Gospel (Breen 2011, pp. 153-163).

Building a Discipling Culture concludes with some practical suggestions and vehicles for building a culture of discipleship within the church. However, the entire discipleship strategy is spread out over three additional books: Multiplying Missional Leaders, Leading Missional Communities, and Leading Kingdom Movements. Having read all the books and participated in a two-year 3DM Learning Community, and having been involved in two different churches that have adopted this discipleship strategy, I feel uniquely qualified to offer an evaluation of not only the book, but the entire discipleship approach. First, what Breen and 3DM are proposing in these books is not for the faint of heart. Unfortunately, if you do a search on the Internet on churches implementing the 3DM strategy, you will likely find more negative stories than positive. Thanks to the Church Growth and Seeker Movements, the American Church has been built at least to some degree by appealing to consumeristic tendencies. The Gospel and the Great

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Commission to make disciples is about denying ourselves which runs on a collision course with a consumer mentality. Couple this contradiction with impatient pastors looking for results through making comprehensive and complex changes too quickly and you have a recipe for church upheaval and sometimes complete implosion. My current church has experienced a good deal of attrition of people who simply did not understand the church’s new focus. To them, it seemed that everything that attracted them to our church in the first place had been stripped away. Sadly, pastors often get frustrated with those who do not “get it” and they are left behind feeling abandoned and disconnected with those who quickly adopt the new direction and focus of the church.

After modeling my personal discipleship endeavors after this method and, more specifically, utilizing the Lifeshapes discipling tools for the past five years, I

wholeheartedly believe it to be an effective but imperfect method. It is important to understand that it is a personal discipleship method that must be implemented at the personal level and be allowed to spread among a community through relationships. The dangers lie in mandating through making it a program from the top down. While Building a Discipling Culture does not address the subject of worship or congregational singing, it is my strong belief that a culture of discipleship will yield a renewal of worship and congregational singing in any church as the people engage in God’s mission and experience his mighty acts for themselves.

Saturate by Jeff Vanderstelt

At first glance, the title of the book does not seem to portray the subject of discipleship. However, in the introduction, the author asks the question,

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“Can you imagine every city, every neighborhood, every street, and every house saturated with Jesus’ presence through his people? What if, in every school, every classroom, and every extracurricular activity, students daily experience the person and work of Jesus? Can you dream with me of a day when no business office, retail center, or industrial hub can get away from the good news of Jesus proclaimed in words and expressed in gracious deeds? A day when every café, pub, restaurant, or bakery smells of the aroma of Christ (Vanderstelt 2015, iBooks p. 23)?

It certainly is a beautiful picture! If followers of Jesus go into all the world making disciples, saturation would certainly be a fitting description. Unfortunately, that is not the reality of our world which makes books like Saturate necessary. Also in the introduction, the author makes it clear that the call to discipleship is for every believer. “This book is for you—the normal, unimpressive, everyday person, young or old, male or female— because Jesus means to carry out his mission of filling the world with his presence through you. You are meant to do this” (Vanderstelt 2015, iBooks p. 25).

Chapter one states the problem—many (most?) of the people in our churches have never been discipled. Vanderstelt shares the story of a conversation with his father while fishing. His church had hired a new discipleship pastor and for the first time in fifty years, he was being discipled and learning how to disciple others. “’How is it possible that someone could be in the church for over fifty years and not know how to make disciples?’ I wondered. ‘What’s wrong with the church?... It’s not a separate program of the church! It’s the mission of the whole church! Every disciple of Jesus is called to it! Clearly something is broken!’” (Vanderstelt 2015, p. 36). Interestingly, as the author recounted how his father’s had changed, it resulted in parties with neighbors and exciting spiritual conversations rather than involvement in a new church program. The

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Earlier, when evaluating the Transformational Discipleship study, I mentioned the lack of clarity in the North American Church regarding discipleship and that much of our efforts had been focused on church programs. Vanderstelt acknowledges this disconnect and makes a very strong connection between people and discipleship rather than programs. In fact, chapter two focuses on the role that parties and hospitality can have in reaching out to others.

“What if our homes were intended by God to be some of the primary spaces in which the ministry of the church should take place? People could be welcomed in, cared for, and experience belonging to a people who enjoy one another and life together. This would transform people’s perceptions of the church. Their understanding of who the church is and what she does would be very different from others’. As a result, people would come to understand Jesus in an entirely new way” (Vanderstelt 2015, iBooks p. 52).

I appreciate so much Jeff Vanderstelt’s approach to discipleship as “all-of-life discipleship” (Vanderstelt 2015, iBooks p. 144). He maintains that “this kind of

discipleship cannot happen simply by attending church gatherings or going to classes… All-of-life discipleship… requires submitting to and obeying God’s Word in three key environments: life on life, where our lives are visible and accessible to one another; life in community, where more than one person is developing another; and life on mission, where we experience making disciples and, while doing so, come to realize how much we need God’s power” (Vanderstelt 2015, iBooks pp. 160-161). Saturate clearly intertwines discipleship with evangelism. It treats discipleship as so much more than a focus on our character and practicing spiritual disciplines.

As excellent a resource as Saturate is to paint a picture of what discipleship can and should look like, it never touches the subject of worship or worship renewal and how all-of-life discipleship might impact our worship gatherings as we sing together. That is

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not within the scope of the book, yet it comes so close. Just imagine what it might be like to gather for worship with a group of people who were engaged in all-of-life discipleship. If people are experiencing life on life, life in community, and life on mission, I truly believe it would also experience a great worship renewal. The people would be

practically bursting at the seams with praise and adoration for all they have experienced God doing in their midst. They would not be spectators observing the show on the stage or critiquing the performance of the musicians. And, it is also unlikely that they would complain about the style or volume of the music being used in worship. Instead, I am inclined to believe that they would lift their voices in song and express their love and worship to God in great abandon.

Section Two: Worship Literature

Faith Communities Today – American Congregations 2015 by David A. Roozen Faith Communities Today conducts a regular national survey of church

congregations. This is the fifth survey conducted since 2000 with previous surveys taken in 2000, 2005, 2008, and 2010 with responses from over 32,000 randomly sampled congregations in the United States from all denominations and traditions. “This report focuses on an initial look at core trends across the survey series and a first look at new sets of questions introduced in the 2015 survey” (Roozen 2016, p. 1). It is a fascinating study that measures many of the key health indicators of local congregations. This study covers many topics; however, for the purposes of this literature review, only those pertaining to the subject of worship, worship renewal, and music will be mentioned.

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Church growth and the factors that drive it is one of the first sections of this report in which worship is mentioned. In general, churches that adopted more contemporary styles of worship music experienced a boost in growth. According to this study, in the past five years, 53.2 percent of congregations that described themselves as being very innovative in worship grew by at least 2 percent and 43.7 percent that described their church as having little to some innovation in worship grew by at least two percent (Roozen 2016, p. 4). It is not surprising to find a significant connection between a positive experience during worship services and the spiritual vitality of a congregation. However, a surprising departure from previous surveys was that for the first time there was little connection found between having a positive worship experience and the growth of the congregation. All other previous surveys showed a strong connection. Another interesting departure from previous surveys was the finding that while positive

experiences in worship remained at consistent levels, spiritual growth and vitality trended downward. Additionally, fewer churches report a willingness to change their worship style or add a worship service with a different style. More than three-quarters of those surveyed reported no changes in style or very slight changes and only 4 percent added a new service with a different style. In attempting to quantify the term “contemporary worship,” the surveyors chose “use of electric guitars always or often” as the benchmark for defining contemporary. As such, the number of churches that indicated that they use electric guitars in worship always or often has plateaued at 34.8 percent. The report speculates that perhaps this is because electric guitars are hardly seen as innovative in today’s context. A final mention in the report relating to music and worship is in the area of member-oriented programming. The percentage of churches that indicated that their

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music program was a strong emphasis in or specialty of their church fell from 58.1 percent in 2010 to 52.9 percent in 2015. Sometimes this kind of decline is indicative of budgetary constraints on the church brought on by external financial trends in society (Roozen 2016, pp. 9-12).

Pew Research Center

Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan fact tank, conducts research on trends, attitudes and issues that shape public policy in the United States and around the world and informs the public on its findings. They conduct hundreds of surveys on topics ranging from politics, social trends, religion, technology, science, and global issues. In an August 2016 study entitled “Choosing a New Church or House of Worship,” 74 percent of respondents indicated that worship style was a significant factor in choosing a new church behind only the quality of preaching and feeling welcomed by church leaders (Pew Research Center 2016).

A 2015 study entitled “America’s Changing Religious Landscape” showed a sharp overall decline of the Christian share of the U.S. population (from 78.4% in 2007 to 70.6% 2014) and an increase in those designated as “unaffiliated” (16.1% to 22.8%) and those of other faiths (4.7% to 5.9%). Evangelicals saw less of a decline (-0.9%) than both Catholic (-3.1%) and Mainline Protestant (-3.4%) (Pew Research Center 2012).

LifeWay Research

In a March 16, 2017, episode of the “Keep Asking” podcast with Lizette Beard, Scott McConnell, and Casey Oliver with LifeWay Research, the topic was “Research on Worship: Putting the Pieces Together.” Interestingly, with all the church-specific research

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that LifeWay conducts, they rarely conduct any specific research on worship. During the podcast, Lizette Beard had this to say about research on worship from LifeWay:

“A question we are asked a lot is, have you done any research on worship ‘in this really specific way’? Or about this very specific type of church? More often than not, our answer has actually been no. Sometimes the population is just too specific… Sometimes it’s a question that would be interesting… None of the people would be interested in it. It’s not that it’s not important to someone, it just probably wouldn’t be important to very many more people than that... If we don’t do a full-blown research study out there, what value can people get from research that comes from multiple studies if it’s not on the very granular thing they’re looking for?” (Beard, McConnell and Oliver 2017)

While LifeWay Research does not have any worship specific research of its own, the podcast included aspects from other studies—of its own and from other organizations such as the ones mentioned above—that touch on worship. While the data from other surveys such as Faith Communities Today and Pew Research Center have already been explored in previous paragraphs, LifeWay Research recently produced a survey of new church plants that touches on worship. Among new church starts, 34 percent were considered contemporary, 18 percent blended, 11 percent seeker, seven percent post-modern immersion, and five percent urban contemporary. Traditional services among church plants only make up four percent and only one in 50 churches were classified as liturgical. In a related statistic, 40 percent of those attending a new church plant were not active in another church at the time and 18 percent who were previously completely unchurched (Beard, McConnell and Oliver 2017).

Also, according to LifeWay Research, if churches are doing worship well, they will see more people begin to attend. “The model that includes church’s mean responses to the worship assessment questions accounts for 33 percent of

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the five-year growth of that church…What we’re saying is not that we can predict that more people will come to your worship services, if [you do worship well]. We can say that it’s more likely that they’re going to come, if [you do worship well]” (Beard, McConnell and Oliver 2017).

Observations from worship trends and statistics

We appear to be entering a stage in the American Church where simply changing the style of music used in the worship service to more contemporary forms does not necessarily equate to church growth. Churches have closed the gap between themselves and the surrounding culture at least in the instrumentation that is used during the musical portion. It is no longer shocking to most people to hear an electric guitar in a worship service!

Perhaps the most telling statistic is the significant rise of those who identify as unaffiliated. In the church world, we call them the unchurched or de-churched. For many people who no longer attend church, worship or musical style is immaterial. In fact, it appears that worship style matters more to those inside the church than outside. In any case, changing a church’s worship style to be more contemporary seems less likely to cause a significant growth in attendance than in the past. There is also little doubt that the de-churched population is growing and unless churches engage people in something significant—like the mission of God—this trend is likely to continue.

Worship Old & New by Robert E. Webber

Although the first edition of this book was written in 1983, Robert Webber’s call for worship renewal through incorporating past worship forms still represents one of the

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major approaches to worship renewal today known as convergence worship. By 1994, and the release of the second edition of this book and the subject of my review, Webber contends that there is great uncertainty in worship due to a breakdown of distinct worship styles between denominations. While some argue for the old ways of worshiping, and others lobby for only the latest styles and trends, Webber calls for a blending of both old and new forms (Webber 1994, pp. 12-13). Convergence worship is an attempt at worship renewal by connecting ancient practices with modern forms and can be effective in liturgical or free worshiping churches.

Webber spends the first part of the book exploring the biblical foundations for worship beginning in the Old Testament and running through early Christian worship practices. He makes note of the “event nature” of worship with God calling for his people to prepare themselves for a meeting with Him at the foot of Mount Sinai. While little is said about the details of early Christian worship in the New Testament, “both the Old and New Testaments contributed to the worship patterns of the early church (Webber 1994, p. 61).” The second part of the book covers a biblical theology of worship with the Gospel taking the central place in worship. Webber points to Old Testament worship practices that foreshadow and symbolize the relationship between God and the worshiper which culminate in the New Testament with the Eucharist or Lord’s Supper (Webber 1994, pp. 78-79). Of particular importance to Webber is the use of signs and symbols in worship. He devotes an entire chapter to the subject. “They are not ends in themselves; rather, they are the tangible meeting points between human beings and God in which spiritual

worship takes place. This is true of the order of worship, which is a sign-act just like baptism and the Eucharist. (Webber 1994, p. 90)”

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The third section of the book is devoted to a history of Christian worship practices including the earliest worship order from the writings of Clement of Alexandria (d. 220) and Origen (d. 251). This order of worship included selected scripture readings from the Law, the Prophets, Epistles, Acts, and the Gospels with Psalms sung by cantors in between readings. Webber traces the development of both Eastern and Western Liturgies which serve as the basis for the Liturgy still practiced in many churches today. He also traces the effect of the Reformation and the beginning of the Free Church worship movement before speaking to worship renewal efforts in the twentieth century and the charismatic movement. Section four of the book speaks to the practice of worship—the environment, the content, structure and style. Webber gets quite detailed in this section, even giving floor plans and layouts of various worship spaces throughout church history.

Central to worship is the Word of God. The people listen to and respond to

readings from the scriptures. Another central theme is the Eucharist or Lord’s Supper and the act of remembrance and giving of thanks. Here, Webber gives suggestions for

contemporary, free worshiping churches to incorporate some of these ancient, more liturgical elements. The worship service ends with sending the people out to love and serve the Lord (Webber 1994, pp. 163-194).

For myself, not being from a liturgical church, I find the signs and symbols of liturgical worship described in this book fascinating. I can appreciate the tie Webber seeks to make between the ancient and more modern worship expressions. The centrality of the Gospel as expressed throughout the liturgy is wonderfully rich. However, I have met many people who grew up in liturgical churches that completely missed the Gospel because it was never explained to them. It seems that in many liturgical churches, the